Watch out, it’s raining plates! Christophe Dufau (ex-Les Bacchanales), the legendary chef of Nice’s backcountry, and his partner Anastasia Katsuba took their bottles and their show-stopping cuisine to the heart of Cathar Country, where they opened a new temple to terroir cuisine and wine. After six months of renovations on the sublime building with big pastel blue shutters, the lovebirds opened the doors to their inn with providential bedrooms, a relaxing yoga studio and an intimate communal dining-style restaurant. The other night, after greeting a few passing sheep, seated around the table d’hôte in the old farmhouse with big timeworn wooden rafters and Bordeaux barrel wood chairs, we indulged in: homemade barley crackers dipped into a fabulous sheep’s milk fromage frais sprinkled with trout roe; a divine chestnut soup with porcini mushroom oil; intense pheasant and foie gras terrine topped with chunky raw porcini mushroom quarters, intensified by an explosive fermented porcini mushroom vinaigrette; monkfish tail sourced from the Saint-Jean-de-Luz fish market served over crisp Tarbes beans, with a compote made from the garden’s last tomatoes; before a very delicate chocolate millefeuille. // Gwen Jacquère
FEELING THIRSTY? Around 20 local natural wines: Champêtre, a Mauzac from Laurent Cazottes (€6 a glass), a Chenin from the Domaine de Majas (€33 a bottle), Ocrement Dit, a Malbec from Valérie Courrèges (€27)… Unless Christophe opens the doors to his secret wine cellar, which houses a 2009 red from the Domaine La Marèle (€80) and a 2008 Champagne from Dehours (€110).
PRICE: Menus €30-48 (lunch) and €45-60 (dinner).
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